April 08, 2013 11:02 PM CDTApril 09, 2013 12:55 AM CDTDallas ISD’s aspiring principals will soon take leading role in district

Dallas ISD’s aspiring principals will soon take leading role in district

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Kye R. Lee/Staff Photographer

Lesley Austin works the halls of Ann Richards Middle School like a principal, but she is only one in training. She’s one of 57 fellows in a yearlong course on how to become a DISD principal, with training that ranges from how to shut off water sprinklers to making sure students are engaged.

On a recent morning, eighth-graders strolled into Ann Richards Middle School near Pleasant Grove and climbed the stairs to their first-period classes. At the top floor, an enforcer waited for them.

“Can you come talk to me,” Lesley Austin asked a girl in an aqua shirt. “Do you know what I’m going to tell you?”

The girl nodded. It was her shirt — a lighter shade of blue than the school’s uniform color. “Tomorrow, I’m going to be watching for you.”

Austin worked the third floor like a principal, greeting students, enforcing rules and checking in on teachers. While she may act like a campus administrator, she is only one in training.

Austin is one of 57 fellows in Dallas ISD immersed in a yearlong course to learn how to become the district’s next principals. The program, called the Leadership Development Fellows Academy, is a centerpiece of Superintendent Mike Miles’ overhaul plans.

Miles launched it just weeks after he arrived last year, underscoring his urgency to improve schools with new campus administrators. With up to 50 current DISD principals not returning next year for various reasons, many of the aspiring principals could soon take a leading role in the district.

As school districts nationwide struggle to find effective principals, some have turned to such in-house academies. “We need to prepare principals a lot better than we have been doing. That’s why the school leader academy was born,” Miles said.

In Dallas ISD, the fellows learn everything from how to shut off water sprinklers to making sure students are engaged in class.

If the academy works, the district will be scattered with new campus administrators in the coming years who subscribe to Miles’ “Core Beliefs,” preach the value of quality instruction and believe his “Destination 2020” plan will fix struggling schools.

“It was a way to focus on his vision and to make sure that leaders were trained in the direction he wanted the district to go. They have that understanding,” said Karon Cofield, executive director of the academy, which will bring in 50 new fellows next year. “That’s why this is so important.”

‘It’s huge’

Roxanne Rodriquez, a former assistant principal in the Grapevine-Colleyville school district, said she joined the academy because she didn’t feel ready to lead a campus.

“I still wanted to learn,” she said. “To be able to know how to operate in every aspect of that job in such a district and understanding the scope of it; it’s huge. If it’s a testing day and it’s snowing, who is going to turn on that boiler? I will.”

Rodriquez and the other fellows started in late August and spent the first two months attending lectures on leadership, visiting district departments and finishing Rosetta Stone lessons to learn conversational Spanish. They also memorized Miles’ “Core Beliefs,” which have been printed on posters placed across the district.

In October, the fellows were assigned to work with DISD principals and now spend four or five days a week with them on campus. Rodriquez has been shadowing Adrian Luna, the principal at Casa View Elementary School in Far East Dallas.

At a recent morning meeting, Rodriquez helped lead a session with Casa View teachers on the challenges they face and the successful techniques they have used. A few teachers mentioned that their students, especially the children from low-income families, have struggled to think and solve problems by themselves.

“We know that our at-risk students have more than grade level to grow,” Rodriquez told the teachers. “We are trying to create that foundation so that they can move forward.”

Interest was high

Miles launched the leadership academy in July after trustees approved spending $5.3 million on the program. Miles brought in Cofield and Denise Cooper, who both worked with him in Colorado Springs, Colo., to run the program.

The three created the syllabus, curriculum and training. They worked to cover everything required of principals, including writing action plans, conducting teacher observations and crafting effective lesson plans.

Interest in the course ran high, with more than 600 people nationwide applying. Dallas ISD selected 57 applicants, who each receive a $60,000 annual salary. Cofield said she chose candidates who showed “courage, focus to detail and persistence.”

Their ages and experience vary, from a 24-year-old former Teach for America teacher to a 58-year-old former DISD principal.

While they are being groomed to lead a campus, they aren’t guaranteed a position. But district officials expect at least half of the 57 fellows to either become principals or assistant principals. The rest could become teachers.

Three fellows have already been named principals during this school year at Gooch, Robert E. Lee and Bushman elementary schools. Another three are now assistant principals.

When trustees approved funding for leadership academy, some voiced concern that the district could spend millions on training people who end up leaving for jobs elsewhere. To address those concerns, administrators required the fellows promise to stay for at least two years.

“I have loyalty,” said Austin, the fellow at Richards Middle School. “I believe in Mr. Miles and what he is doing for education and the district.”

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